{"id":4756,"date":"2018-10-14T22:00:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T02:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=4756"},"modified":"2020-02-25T21:39:53","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T02:39:53","slug":"galaxys-edge-volume-8-message-for-the-dead-a-science-fiction-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/14\/galaxys-edge-volume-8-message-for-the-dead-a-science-fiction-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Galaxy\u2019s Edge (Volume 8) \u2013 Message for the Dead \u2013 A Science Fiction Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spoiler Alert!\u00a0 I discuss some plot details.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t want to know, then long story, short, it\u2019s another great addition to the Galaxy\u2019s Edge series.\u00a0 It\u2019s full of daring heroics, brilliant battle scenes and fascinating characters trying to survive the downfall of the Galactic Republic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Up until \u201cMessage for the Dead,\u201d Jason Anspach and Nick Cole had made their series, Galaxy\u2019s Edge about the conflict between the factions fighting for control of the Galactic Republic.\u00a0 The Legion has attempted to maneuver in the military, moral and political space between the corrupt civilian government of the Republic (The House of Reason) and the active military enemies of the Republic represented by the zhee, the Mid Core Rebellion (MCR) and the Black Fleet Forces of Goth Sullus (now known as the Empire).\u00a0 But by the conclusion of the previous volume (Turning Point) the Legion had used their constitutional authority to denounce the House of Reason, to force an investigation of their corruption and to call for new elections.\u00a0 This looked like a step forward to resolving the crisis and allowing the Legion to concentrate on the external military threat.\u00a0 Hah!<\/p>\n

In Message for the Dead FUBAR is the order of the hour and all hell breaks loose.\u00a0 The main battle scene in the space around the Republic\u2019s capitol planet Utopion is a swirling cauldron of death for all the fighting forces, Republic Navy, Legion, Black Forces and the MCR.\u00a0 But none of them are prepared for the arrival of the Cybar.\u00a0 They are the biggest wild card in the battle and their allegiance is misunderstood by most of the combatants.<\/p>\n

And in this book, we finally learn the depths of X\u2019s duplicity.\u00a0 He\u2019s been using the Legion, the House of Reason and the Black Fleet as chess pieces in his own merciless campaign to reshape the Galaxy\u2019s government through violent crisis.\u00a0 We finally get to hear his specific plan and his self-justification from his own lips.<\/p>\n

And in the foreground of the story is the Legion\u2019s best soldiers, Victory Squad.\u00a0 In various situations, they and their friends fight to save civilization from the predators and the tyrants.\u00a0 But by the end of the story they are fighting just to stay alive.\u00a0 At the beginning of the book Captain Keel recruits friends and even enemies to help him rescue his shipmates from the Cybar mother ship.\u00a0 By the end of the book Keel is called on to repay the favor by rescuing Major Chun and all that is left of Victory Squad from the midst of a planetary extermination operation being perpetrated by the Cybar.<\/p>\n

Well, now that Anspach and Cole have destroyed everything in sight I guess they\u2019ll have to write about ten more books to try and put humpty-dumpty back together again.\u00a0 These boys are really getting it done.\u00a0 I read these books as fast as I get my hands on them.\u00a0 They balance the story between the military action, science fiction elements and the human interest in the characters.\u00a0 The sheer number of characters they create is impressive but the detail is there and that helps keep the reader’s interest from flagging.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the story is now introducing an aspect that seems to be an echo of older mythology.\u00a0 It\u2019s too early to tell but I think there is an almost Tolkienian plot element being introduced.\u00a0 Of course, this is a guess on my part.\u00a0 What has occurred is so far only a suggestion of a plot direction.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

Hail Galaxy\u2019s Edge.\u00a0 Long may you torture your legionnaires and my bank account.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spoiler Alert!\u00a0 I discuss some plot details.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t want to know, then long story, short, it\u2019s another great addition to the Galaxy\u2019s Edge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,237,4,242],"tags":[979,2360,637,1367,79],"class_list":["post-4756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-book-reviews","tag-galaxys-edge","tag-galaxys-edge-book","tag-jason-anspach","tag-message-for-the-dead","tag-nick-cole"],"yoast_head":"\nGalaxy\u2019s Edge (Volume 8) \u2013 Message for the Dead \u2013 A Science Fiction Book Review - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/14\/galaxys-edge-volume-8-message-for-the-dead-a-science-fiction-book-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Galaxy\u2019s Edge (Volume 8) \u2013 Message for the Dead \u2013 A Science Fiction Book Review - 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